The Job
by I Pilot the Submachopter
Summary: Flash Fiction: Raven hired Red-X for a job, but he's not ready to complete it just yet.


**The Job**

Red-X stood on the edge of the building, looking into the darkened alley below as the noise from the night pounded his eardrums with a relentless cacophony of sounds. Horns, sirens, screams of fear and delight; it was all familiar white noise to him now. Wind whipped around him and there was the faint scent of curry that curled from the Indian restaraunt below. There, in the shadows that lined the streets, were people oblivious to his existence. Content to carry on with their urban lives, ignoring the thief that stood above them.

"You called?"

A red, X-shaped shuriken slid through his vision and disappeared into the space behind him. "I see you got my calling card, Sunshine."

Raven crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him. If Red-X didn't know any better, he would have thought the shadows were crawling towards her, as if looking for their master to control them. It was like the girl exuded darkness from her pores.

Creepy.

"Of course." She placed one hand on her hip, flashing her communicator in warning. He knew the rules of their secretive talks, and if he deviated from the path they had both agreed on, she would call her teammates in without hesitation. Pity. They always sucked the fun out of any situation.

"Good. I want to make sure you're on point here, Princess."

"I am no one's princess, least of all yours." Her eyes narrowed and glowed red under the influence of her powers. It was another subtle way she tried to keep her control over the situation. A minute passed between them, and her eyes returned to normal. She brushed down the front of her cloak and continued to stare at him. "I hope you have some kind of update, and you didn't drag me out here in the middle of the night for no reason."

"I just wanted to see your pretty face, Sunshine." He leaned back on his heels and grinned behind his mask. It was just too much fun to tease her sometimes, and she always played right into his little games. "I can't complete my day without you next to me."

"Enough." She stopped him with a wave of her hand. "Update?"

Of course she'd staunch his fun. He shrugged. "Book's been moved."

"To _where_?" She continued to glare at him. Somewhere behind her something exploded, sending a shower of shrapnel down into the dark alleyway. "I am putting a whole lot of faith in you that I shouldn't be, and I'm putting my job on the line. The least you can do is hold up your end of the bargain, and your job was to find the book."

"I'm _looking_ for it, Princess. Jeez, don't get your panties in a twist girl." He rolled his eyes and continued to stare at her, a weird pit forming in his stomach at his words. "I got close to finding it, and then the owner moved it, and now I have to find it all over again. Not my fault." He held up his hand to keep her from talking any more. "I know you need that book for your creepy, weird hoo-doo-voo-doo shit, but you need to trust me."

"I know better than to trust _you_, Red-X." Raven pinched the bridge of her nose and mumbled under her breath. "I should have hired Mumbo. At least he would have been faster."

"Ouch, Sunshine." He put a hand over his chest in mock-pain. "If I had known you felt that way, I would have never taken your offer."

Raven scoffed. "Don't joke. You needed the job, and you know it."

"I need your dirty money?" He grinned and stared down at her blushing face. She always hated that he pointed out her faults. But the truth was that her money wasn't necessarily dirty, but giving it to a thief was certain to taint its cleanliness. And he shouldn't have complained too much about what she paid him with; this job came with a few extra perks that weren't always on the normal bill. "I didn't think you were so ignoble."

"You know nothing about me."

"I know enough." He held out his hand, as if asking for an offering from her. "Come on, Sunshine. I gave you the update you wanted. You give me the goods."

She rolled her eyes and slid a few hundred dollars into his outstretched hand. "Payment."

He handed the bills back to her. "I don't want your money tonight."

"You didn't give me an update."

"I told you the truth."

She glared at him from beneath her hood. "I don't want to."

Red-X raised an eyebrow and crowded her space. His heart was pounding a frantic rhythm through his ears as excitement mingled with disappointment raced through his veins. He curled a gloved hand under her chin and pulled her face to meet his own. "Going back on the deal we made?"

"You can't give me tonight at least?"

"You can't give _me _tonight?" He leaned closer to her. "You agreed to the terms." His hands moved across her collarbone until he found the clasp to her cloak, working it free and dropping it to the roof below them. "Hell, you _wrote_ the terms."

Raven looked away, red staining her cheeks. It didn't matter how many times he saw that color on her cheeks, it would always be hot. Red-X ran a hand over her shoulder and grinned behind the mask. It would only be a minute before-

"Alright. But make it quick."

"No." He pushed even closer to her. "Not tonight."

Her shocked gasp was the only response he allowed before conquering her body.

* * *

Red-X sighed as he dropped his mask onto his sofa. Tonight had made him hungry, and he wished he had taken the money from Raven instead of their other payment agreement. He hadn't had a real job in weeks and he was stuck eating leftover takeout and canned soup. Certainly not the kind of meal that a master thief should be eating, but he much preferred to fulfill his other urges before he filled his stomach anyway.

A minute ticked by before he felt the familiar feeling of guilt bubble up into his chest. He flopped down onto his sofa and stared at the intricate box on his coffee table, collecting dust for nearly a month. It housed a weird, rare book from another dimension. The same book Raven had contracted him for. He promised himself he'd let her know he found the book soon, but that had been three weeks ago, and his conscience didn't seem ready to tell her just yet. And his body certainly wasn't ready to let her know either.

He'd just keep this up for a little while longer.

At least, that was what he told himself.

* * *

I don't own the Titans. Thanks for reading.  
- I Pilot the Submachopter


End file.
